YOUR Top Games You Played in 2024

Gaming
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If you have a Top 10 or Top 5 or however many for games you played in 2024, what are they and do you have a spoiler-free description? They didn’t have to release this year, just what you played in 2024.

I played so much this year, my entire list is all Japanese games, mostly JRPGs. I wrote a mini-review for each, you don’t have to but a short description would be cool (spoiler free for folks who might still want to play it) Here goes a wall of text:

  1. Persona 3 Reload - Even after knowing the story because I played P3 Portable, this was the game that meant the most to me and I’m glad I got to play it at this point in my life. The game is back-heavy so you may not feel it up front but yeah it’s something special. Awesome and interesting soundtrack. Tons of great, weird and yeah some dumb side stories too haha.
  2. Metaphor: ReFantazio - Arguably should be #1 because it’s just an insane level of quality. An improvement over every Atlus game I’ve played, awesome and interesting soundtrack. Great characters. Shoji Meguro soundtrack rocked me. I love the slow themes and of course the crazy chanting tracks.
  3. Octopath Traveler II - I am the #1 Octopath Traveler stan and this game hitting Xbox healed a piece of my soul. Beautiful, I love HD2D and I doubt I’ll ever get sick of the style. Some of the characters I thought were boring won me over by the end. Soundtrack is seriously next level beautiful and hardcore. Had my jaw on the floor at certain points I won’t spoil. Overall an improvement over OT1 but I refuse to compare them too harshly haha.
  4. Visions of Mana - My 1st Mana game was a joy to complete. The demo doesn’t do it justice for whatever reason. The world is great. And learning about the themes of the Mana games, I have a newfound appreciation for them. Hope to see even more hit Xbox. Good soundtrack with a few standout tracks. There’s a couple interesting and odd things going on with the story but don’t overhype it, maybe go in with low expectations if you can. I was still surprised by some stuff. Some stuff is as generic as it gets and then other things…I’ll just say I was surprised by.
  5. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance - My 1st proper SMT game! I was excited to play a very dark and oppressive JRPG and this game delivered. It was a blast taking everything I’ve learned from Persona combat and applying it to SMT VV. Some key differences but most of it helped me out. I love gods and mythology and this game focused on a lot of that. The game really made me think a lot. And yeah I enjoyed zipping around the world and platforming.
  6. Unicorn Overlord - My most enjoyable 1000G of the year. The world exploration was a blast, loved seeing the incredible hand drawn backgrounds and character art. The game might be easy but I found a way to make an early portion very difficult for myself haha.
  7. Grandia HD Collection - I’m so glad I was finally able to cross Grandia 1 & 2 off of my JRPG to-do list. G1 was a neat look back at a Saturn/PS1 era game. The English VA is bad but I had a good time with it, if it bugs you then switch to JP. G1 is a good example of what a young boy would think of when going on a fantasy adventure. I wish there was an option to turn off the smoothing filter in G1 but I got used to it. Grandia 2 was interesting to see what a JRPG was like on the Dreamcast. Better VA than 1, the colors really pop and I think I overall enjoyed it a lot more than G1. I liked the characters a lot more too. I won’t hype up the story but it also did some things that might have been uncommon for the time. Some cool stuff.
  8. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - This game just barely snuck into my top 10 but it’s a cozy ass game I wanted to play around the holidays. It’s also HARD AS HELL. I think I finally get Dragon Quest and I’m slowly replaying DQ11 and appreciating it a lot more. Toriyama’s art looks amazing in the HD2D style. I can finally appreciate the music for the DQ series, it’s arranged very nicely here. Also wild that the NES version had a day/night cycle and that continues here. My biggest recommendation for this game is once you get the party, drop those suckers off and go and build your own. Think of some names that can fit their class/job. That way you feel an attachment to the created party. DQ1&2 Remake shot up my most anticipated when I wasn’t very excited for it earlier in the year. DQ forever baby!
  9. Legend of Mana - What a surprise to get this game on Xbox. Technically a spin-off in the Mana series, this game is insane with what systems they built and how they interlink. 100% completion is a stressful guide-intensive undertaking but unless you want to do multiple playthroughs, you will miss things. The worst thing about the game is it discouraged me from talking to NPCs for fear of starting or ending other quests. Ok on to the good stuff: again some of the best hand drawn background with some great pixel art characters. This is how I prefer it. A Yoko Shimomura soundtrack is always a joy to listen to. The real meat of the game is the side stories which range from incredibly touching and heartfelt, to weird, to dumb, to bizarre, sad, crazy and silly.
  10. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess - You ever hear of weird combinations of food that sound disgusting but people swear taste very good? Is peanut butter and pickles a thing? (Not recommending but I feel like I’ve heard people suggest something gross like that) anyways a tower defense, escort mission, RTS hack and slash game sounds like that to me. The game is beautiful. I love the creatures inspired from Japanese mythology. They’re freaky and scary and night time in the game is stressful as hell because of them. The loop is fun but my favorite part is the village sections. A chance to build stuff up, feed the Goddess some sweets, pet the wildlife and just hang out in the village I stressed out saving from corruption. The game is brutal and punishing though. It will rock you.

Incredible year for JRPGs in general and on Xbox. Side note with my list, I 1000G’ed all of these games so I really feel I saw most/all of what they have to offer. A lot of these games/series had their 1st appearance on Xbox and I’m just glad to be able to finally experience them

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And even though I wrote a ton, I have a lot of honorable mentions or games I’m still playing.

Honorable Mentions: So far I’ve played and completed Final Fantasy 1-4. It would feel weird to me to put these on the top of the list taking spots from other games but these were a blast. Had a great time with all 4. Kingdom Hearts 1 was a trip. Dragon’s Dogma 2 would’ve been on the top 10 if I didn’t just finish DQ3HD. I played A Realm Reborn in FF14 and FF7 Rebirth was the only non-Xbox game I played this year. Good time but I didn’t want to devote too much time on another platform.

Still playing: Fantasian Neo Dimension, Kingdom Hearts 2, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution, Trials of Mana, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy V. I just got Sand Land on disc so that should be fun

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Much more interesting than a GOTY list, as a backlogger I haven’t even played 10 games from this year… Nice thread, @mrhipshot !

  1. Baldur’s Gate 3 (This is the best one I played not only this year, but it managed to find its way into my all-time top 10, not an easy feat. What a game! I loved it. There will be more playthroughs in the future…)

  2. WH40K Space Marine 2 (A proper video game ass video game! Excellent.)

  3. Hellblade 2 (An audiovisual experience that was just incredible. The middle chapter is some of the most intense feelings of dread I’ve experienced… )

  4. Forza Horizon (I started my FH journey with the release of FH4 as someone who did not care for racing games… turns out I do! After FH5 I went back to the start and this one holds up very well, I would even rate it higher than FH5. The progression is a lot more fun, and I enjoyed it immensely.)

  5. Yakuza Kiwami (I played 0 on Game Pass when it was around the first time, immediately bought the whole damn series, it was that good. Now I’m working my way through in order, doing a game here and there when I want to punch (a lot) of people in the face.)

  6. Grim Fandango Remastered (Was one of the oldest games in my backlog. I have a physical PC version… Since PC sucks ass, I played this very nice version on Xbox. Really enjoyed it, classic for sure!

  7. Mafia: Definitive Edition (A linear, cool mob story with a lot of great moments. Really good.)

  8. Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (Played the 360-version back when I could barely use a controller, failed so many QTE’s back then lol. Wanting to play the other two games in the trilogy I decided to refresh my memory with this new version. Great game, Lara is great and I enjoyed this so much more this time.)

  9. Shadowrun Dragonfall (Great old school RPG with a good story and nice tactical combat.)

  10. The Last Campfire (Surprisingly fun little game, nice puzzles and pleasing to the eye.)

Honorable mentions (due to not completed yet): STALKER 2 and Indiana Jones, which are both great so far but waiting for patches on the first one and Indy is the victim of a very busy December for me.

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I will be updating my list as I remember but here are some of mine.

  1. Metaphor Re: Fantazio, the game was so damn good! It had me hooked from beginning to end. I loved every character, and the voice acting was just really good, the way the story progressed wasn’t super surprising, but Atlus made it feel like I was throwing wild guesses from time to time.

  2. Yakuza Gaiden - Kiryu’s last(?) solo game and one that tied together some events from Like a Dragon, that ending had me in tears because I binged through 0 to 6 this year and had become very attached to Kiryu and Haruka.

  3. Starfield Shattered Space, I love Starfield it was my game of the year last year and Shattered Space really brought some great world building to House Va’Ruun. With interesting side quest and a great main story about how religious fanaticism can be used to turn people into obedient puppets for the heads of those religions to exploit (Metaphor imo did it better, but it’s still done very well here).

  4. Elden Ring Shadow of the Eerd Tree - it was a really fun experience (except the final boss), that got me to once again try to defeat every boss on my own once I finished it the first time (except the final boss, this guy will always have my mimic bleed him). It also brought me to the height of fun because after finishing the DLC, I decided to try Malenia solo again, and after so many tries. I managed to actually win after a really clumsy attempt, that shouldn’t have resulted in a victory, but I take those and I was feeling so happy afterwards. Because Malenia no matter how many people out there complain about her is the most fun boss From Software has created to me.

  5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - still haven’t beaten the game but what’s there from the last 5 stages is really good and I’m enjoying my time solving puzzles. I can’t even believe this is true, because generally puzzles are the weakest part of games for me as I don’t usually enjoy them. But everything that’s being done is pretty damn good and it’s keeping me going(likely because I get to beat up fascist when I’m not doing puzzles).

  6. Hellblade 2 - Now this one is surprising for me too, because I didn’t enjoy the first game, this game has puzzles that need to be solved to advance. But there was something that Ninja Theory did with the game that just got me to keep moving forward with the plot and I’m glad I did, because the whole thing was a spectacularly put together experience that really got me to feel how I think the game wanted me to feel.

  7. Persona 3 Reload - A slick presentation and some great characters and moments, with some really great but questionable world building: the dark hour makes no sense, because when it does happen a lot of the world is awake and between the massive amount of different activities that people do, I’m pretty positive there should have been way more casualties coffin or no coffin. I really enjoyed the dungeon crawling through Tartarus, the building of Personas: even if I found picking a card to get a new Persona to be kind of meh compared to P5R’s talking to them (although after you get Ryuji to level 8 bond that goes right out the window).

  8. Dragon Age Veilgauard - While this isn’t the first Dragon Age game I have played, it’s the only one that I was invested enough into it to play all the way through. Between great gameplay and some interesting world building, I felt that this maybe the game to get me into Dragon Age as a series. Hopefully it has done well enough for EA to green light a new Dragon Age in the future, one with less turbulent development.

  9. to be continued

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Astro Bot, Animal Well, and Indiana Jones. Silent Hill 2 would make the list but I haven’t finished it.

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  1. Star Wars Outlaws - I absolutely loved this game, pure fun and a Star Wars fanservice dream come true. One of my favorite games that I’ve played in years honestly.
  2. Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail - Another great expansion, and it’s so great to finally be able to play this game on Xbox!
  3. Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Mixed feelings, as a longtime Dragon Age fan there were elements of this game that were disappointing, but at the same time there were a lot of things that I loved about it too. Ultimately I had a positive experience with it but it’s not something I see myself revisiting years down the line like I have with other DA games.

That’s about all I can think of at the moment, I didn’t play a whole lot of new games this year.

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As of now all games played on Xbox Series X unless otherwise noted) -

  1. Stellar Blade (PlayStation 5) - Absolutely loved Stellar Blade to where I played through it completely twice and did a “speed run” to get one of the endings so I could get the Platinum trophy which I haven’t done for any game since Days Gone in 2019 which I couldn’t get. Game looks great, the combat and gameplay is superb. Absolutely loved it. The soundtrack is excellent and reminds me of Nier Automata. Story and characters are good and I enjoyed it a lot. My biggest negative was the two open areas which while good in general and having some really good content in them, I simply preferred the more linear areas which were all excellent in my opinion. Boss fights are insane. Absolutely loved this game.

  2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Loved the combat system, gameplay and all the different regions and locations. Story and characters are great for the most part. Audio was really good. And visually, I loved the art style and the environments all looked great.

  3. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PlayStation 5) - Even at launch on the base model, Rebirth looks great in performance mode. Yeah, there’s some issues if you watch digital foundry but I stopped doing that a while ago because half of what they talk about, I don’t even see or notice because im too focused on playing and enjoying the game. Audio is excellent. Loved the combat system and gameplay. Story and characters were really good. Love Tifa by the way!! Hehe. Biggest negative is that while I did nearly everything in the game, the side content is decent at best overall but the combat system and gameplay is what made me want to keep playing and doing everything.

  4. Astro Bot (PlayStation 5) - This game is just pure joy and happiness. I don’t think that I have played a game that put a smile on my face more than Astro Bot since I was probably a kid where all I cared about was if the game was fun and enjoyable where as now, I care about combat/gameplay systems, story/characters, etc. This was also the first 3D platformer that I have ever completed.

  5. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - This was one hell of an action packed visual feast. Looks excellent, plays great and has a good story/characters to it. The horde tech that Saber Interactive used is just amazing. Had a blast with this one.

  6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - This was really good. Enjoyed every mission excluding the early stealth (this will become a recurring theme for me, lol) mission early on in the game. Great variety to the missions. Excellent shooting mechanics as always and a good story/characters. Enjoyed it more than 2020’s Black Ops Cold War which is the only other Black Ops game I have played.

  7. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - Enjoyed everything in the game except for the hand to hand/melee combat which for me personally is bad because it’s what I care about the most when playing a game. Aside from that, Machine Games nailed everything. If a sequel/second game does happen, all im hoping for that the game becomes a little more action oriented with the combat with less of a focus on stealth and disguises as im not a fan of these two aspects in games.

  8. Rise of the Ronin (PlayStation 5) - Was a few years too late in my opinion but I enjoyed it for the most part. Combat/gameplay is solid as is the story/characters but coming almost four years after Tsushima, it’s just not even close to what Sucker Punch did.

  9. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden - Looks and sounds great. Really enjoyed the story and characters but I wasn’t a fan of the combat system. It’s just too stiff and clunky. Also suffers from what I like to call the TLOU/GOW effect which is that in order to attack/ht an enemy, you have to be facing the enemy and thus have to rotate the camera which will turn your character. Really good game overall though.

  10. Hellblade 2 - Didn’t enjoy the game as much as the first one which wasn’t that much either. Combat and gameplay takes a few steps back but the visuals, audio and story/characters make up for it.

The last game that I completed was Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. It’s a 7 or so game. I enjoyed it but playing on story mode was a mistake as I had no challenge at all. I should have played it on normal but it being a souls like, I was expecting it to be harder even on story mode. Solid game. Definitely worth checking out on Game Pass.

I will be starting Visions of Mana this Friday which also starts my 17 day vacation. Yay me!! Hehe. I still have Fantasian Neo Dimension, Star Wars Outlaws and Y’s X: Nordics (PlayStation 5) to play through as well.

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I nominated four games for the GOTY podcast episode, and I decided to make it easy by nominating the games I played the most:

Persona 3 Reload for 75 hrs, it was the first Persona game that I put significant time into and I hope to play P5R in 2025

Star Wars Outlaws for 60 hrs, it was the one game I preordered this year and I really enjoyed being immersed in the universe

Outbreak Shades of Horror Chromatic Split for 40 hrs, which is quite impressive for an indie game! I can’t wait for the full Shades of Horror release in 2025!

Metaphor ReFantazio (demo) for 11 hrs, if I can find that much enjoyment in the demo, I can’t imagine the full game experience!

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Here’s what I have off the top of my head for this year.

#1 Visions of Mana

The Square Enix tour de force in my opinion (really sorry for the devs shutting down though after making such an amazing game), this game had everything a Mana fan could have wanted. Paired with the release of 2 more Mana games in Gamepass at the same time I think it helped bring some hype at release although I really don’t know how well it sold. I went for all achievements in the game and spent dozens of hours doing so, and it never felt boring to me. Really worth the purchase in my opinion, and I don’t buy games often!

#2 indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Just finished it and couldn’t put the controller down. Glad that Machine Games took a break and went for something completely different while still working in a first person environment which is what I guess they are comfortable with. Great balance of action, puzzles and platforming elements, paired with an amazing story and great acting. It’s the full package and it doesn’t disappoint.

#3 Hellblade 2

While too short of a game, what you get here has no filler from start to finish and offers a cinematic experience and graphical fidelity unlike anything you’ve seen before. The true definition of a next gen experience if there was one. If you want to be blown away this is the game to go for, amazing actors as well and an aural experience that you have to hear for yourself to believe. Can’t wait to see where they go with their next game as there is definitely more coming!

#4 Fortnite

The game that keeps on giving to be honest. The OG stuff had me super excited and there was more Marvel stuff this year as well as some great concerts! While I don’t do all Battle Passes, this is one that stays in my rotation and it always manages to pull me back in!

#5 The Outlast Trials

While I think I’m at a point where I’ll be dropping this game for good, it kept me playing for quite some time. It’s trying to make a name for itself in the gaas genre I think by adding battle passes but I don’t think the content is there, at least for me, to keep me coming back. They do add new levels from time to time though and the gameplay is fun, and it does horror and gore like no others! Definitely one to play with your friends as it sucks as a solo experience!

#6 Persona 3 Reload

Persona 5 got me hooked last year and 3 pulled me back in! Awesome game but the main dungeon, which is where you spend most of your time, does get very repetitive. Not as charming as 5 and if it weren’t for P5 I might have dropped this one earlier on as it isn’t as good as I thought it would be, but the characters and story were enough to keep me engaged to the end!

#7 Cyberpunk

I’m talking specifically about the DLC here, one of the best game of the generation when taking the full package into account with super immersive story and environments, great graphics, great storytelling, great acting, great gameplay, just freakin great everything! I rarely say this but this game will most likely get a replay from me in the future, it’s just that good!

#8 Palworld

Do I really need to say more? My kids and I played tons at release with my brother and some friends, really got hooked on for weeks on end! It definitely has the Ark vibe because of the menus and how similar it was but the cute pokemon like creatures coupled with the crazy weapons and environments kinda gave you a feel for what a next gen pokemon game could be, without even coming close to it at the same time. Hard to explain really, but really one of the best Gamepass deals MS ever made!

#9 Starfield

Again, this is about the expansion. I was a little let down as I was expecting something a bit longer, but what you get is still very well made an quirky enough in a good, Bethesda kind of way. Starfield is really underappreciated in my opinion and I have a feeling it’ll grow on people over time.

#10 Skull and Bones

I know people like to shit on this game but I played with my brother for quite some time at release and we had a great time. It’s got great gameplay if you really take the time to explore and upgrade your ships, crazy naval battles with giant sea creatures and the people who played were usually pretty hardcore so you had a very nice community of other players willing to help each other. I don’t know how many times I had people invite me to their parties and give me better gear than I had to help them out.

Honorable mention: Fallout 76

This game is one of the best comeback in history imo, as after playing at launch I had dropped it and came back when they added NPCs and since then, this game acts a bit like Fortnite for me where I’ll come back every few seasons to see what’s going on and grind for a bit. There is just something about the environments that is soothing to me; I just enjoy walking around, listening to the amazing soundtrack and grinding that battle pass, doing events with people and seeing all the crazy houses they’ve built. One of the best communities in gaming bar none!

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Did you play solo at all? If so, how was it? Thanks.

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Barely. You can probably do the main story mostly by yourself, which I’d say is mostly what I did before the grind of the end game. A lot of the game though is kind of based around gaas principles though with events and quests you do with other people although you could skip most of it if you want but I think you’d miss on a lot of what the game has to offer.

It’s a game that has solo elements but that is best played in a group, at least in my opinion. If you really liked the ship part of AC Black Flag I guess you’d probably still enjoy Skull and Bones although I thought personally the story is far from being this game’s strongest point and is easily forgetable.

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2024 was an interesting year for me - I played what has to be the most games I’ve ever played, but the only things that were from 2024 were some of the ones from Game Pass, since I was primarily focused on things in my backlog. My notes might be slightly off, but I believe I completed:

  • 17 Game Pass titles
  • 1 Microsoft Mobile game (Mahjong)
  • 49 games from my backlog
  • 20 DLCs from my backlog

I’m not going to write up something for all of these, as I gave some thoughts when I completed each in the backlog challenge thread, but some standout titles for me were:

  • Telltale Games (I played 5 different ones, and they were all good or in a couple cases, great)
  • Tell Me Why, Life is Strange & Life is Strange: Before the Storm
  • Hitman Absolution
  • Hitman 2
  • Far Cry 3 (and Valley of the Yetis), 4, 6
  • Venba
  • Open Roads
  • The Last Campfire
  • Shady Part of Me
  • The Outer Worlds (good enough I finished the original, its DLCs and the Spacer’s Choice Edition and both DLC again. I know it had a rocky launch but I recommend the Spacer’s Choice over the original now especially for the level cap)
  • Botany Manor
  • A Little to the Left
  • Lake
  • Goat Simulator 3 (Xbox Series version is a little better than XOne)
  • Lego: The Incredibles
  • Forgotton Anne
  • Forza Horizon 1: Rally DLC
  • Vampire Survivors DLCs

Of the above, I think I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed Far Cry 3 & 4, and by Goat Simulator 3. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well Forza Horizon’s Rally DLC held up - I thought the physics in that game still are better than a lot of racing titles that are much newer and like @Mort FH1 is probably still my favorite in that series.

Also, not new and I got no new achievements in it since I had them all - but according to my year in review, the game I spent the most time on was the Solitaire Collection.

I did start Indiana Jones and loved what I have played so far, but I guess my 2024 game in terms of what I completed is probably A Little to the Left

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Yeah, kind of figured this from watching videos and whatnot of the game. It’s meant to be played with others which doesn’t apply to me. lol

Thanks for the info. Appreciate it.

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1) Stalker 2.

Love how the game captured everything thing that made the 1st game so special and so different to play and built on it with almost unrelieved atmosphere and art direction

2) Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Just like Faceless Samurai, I couldn’t put the control down. Loved how the game captured the spirit of adventure and puzzle-solving that made the films so great. It so many ways it also felt like Riddick 2 on the Xbox right down the screen edges glowing when kneeling down

3) Banishers ghost of new Eden

This is so good and so overlooked. The script and voice acting should have won awards and the game’s moddy setting is wonderful. Just felt it went on a little too long for its own good.

4) Still Wakes The Deep

The setting and script just draw you into this game so enjoyed the start of the game it felt like playing Half-Life for the 1st time. The ending to the game was so moving too.

5) HellBlade 2

A game to show off what the Series X could do. I just loved everything about the game.

6) Like a Dragon: Infinite wealth

Just more Japanese madness from SEGA and can’t wait for the sequel.

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